More Sonic Wii photos surface -- show off Wiimote movement
by Joystiq Staff 
{ Aug 1st 2006 at 6:25PM }
CVG has posted some brand spanking new screenshots of the upcoming Sonic Wii title -- called Sonic Wild Fire for now -- with demonstrations of how the Wiimote will be used in conjunction with the game.
It's a little tough to tell the actually graphical quality of the game through the screenshots, but from the looks of it, it appears to be not so next gen. At least, not from what you'd expect in a 2006 machine. Either way, as Nintendo says, it's not all about eye candy, it's the experience.
Check after the break for more screenshots.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Raikage @ Aug 1st 2006 6:33PM
It dosen't look that bad does it?... I mean it's definately not 360 standards...but it does do the job right?
P.S. mmm spikes
The Raikage
tram @ Aug 1st 2006 6:33PM
looks cool...should be fun to control sonic with the wiimote...
Amethyst Nighthut @ Aug 1st 2006 6:36PM
As long as it does the job and doesn't leave scars on the eyes, then it's good. While looking pretty does help, it shouldn't be the focus.
Dracula Jones @ Aug 1st 2006 6:43PM
The graphics actually look pretty nice. Definitely a step up from previous gen, but not quite 360 in 720p. I'm impressed, especially considering how the graphics are being downplayed by the media and Nintendo themselves.
DarkMavis @ Aug 1st 2006 6:44PM
I actually think it looks pretty good. It is definitely a step up from the Gamecube.
Ryan Williams @ Aug 1st 2006 6:53PM
Plus let's not forget this is Sonic, so chances are all that scenery will be whizzing past at, well, sonic speed. It'll probably look rather spiffy when playing it.
Overall, pretty impressive considering that indeed the machine's graphical capabilities have been downplayed by all parties.
John Q. @ Aug 1st 2006 6:53PM
These pictures are in no way new. Heck, they're all captured from the E3 trailer, available at http://www.gametrailers.com/gamepage.php?fs=1&id=2659 for the better part of 3 months now.
That said, the graphics look pretty good still, and better in motion. If not "next-gen," they're at least enough of an improvement to be noticable. Like Dreamcast in the 64-bit days.
Epic @ Aug 1st 2006 6:53PM
Interesting. Did anyone notice the utilization of the Wii-mote? It looks like it just uses tilt sensitivity. Then again, when you have two hands on the same gamepad, that's pretty much all you can do. I wonder if the PS3 Sonic game will use this functionality, since the controller can certainly handle it.
These graphics look aged today, and the next gen is barely under way. I worry about how Wii games will look when the next-gen really starts to mature in a few years.
Neil @ Aug 1st 2006 6:53PM
The game is different than the PS3 and 360 version too right? I mean there's no silly telekinesis yes?
mynameisohyeah @ Aug 1st 2006 6:55PM
In this case, how is the wiimote any different than a steering wheel (besides the weight difference)?
elmer @ Aug 1st 2006 6:57PM
Static screenshots of a Sonic game are universally meaningless. Sonic is all about whizzing through at insane speeds, and graphical details are invisible when they blur by at a thousand Miles p'r'hour (pardon the pun).
Ben18 @ Aug 1st 2006 6:57PM
You know I'm really not one to value 'real-ism' in games, I really love the polished animated look. Wind Waker and Okami are fantastic examples of cell shading that looks great. So this new Sonic looks fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see God of War next-gen, but a well polished game without a million jaggies or faces that try to look real but just look gauntly, I hate that.
Robert Summa @ Aug 1st 2006 6:58PM
Hey Neil,
After playing the new Sonic on the PS3 last month, I would definitely say that the "silly telekinesis" is the best part of the game.
I've never spoken about it here, but I had told the developer to make a game with that character only -- Silver, I believe? It was by far, the only good thing about the game.
DeezNuts420 @ Aug 1st 2006 6:59PM
@5 Not to go off topic here, but the Dreamcast was a 128-bit system. And the graphics at the time were leaps and bounds over the N64
rockintom99 @ Aug 1st 2006 7:03PM
DeezNuts420: He meant to say that so far, the Wii looks to the Gamecube like the Dreamcast was to the N64.
John Q. @ Aug 1st 2006 7:04PM
DeezNuts: Yes, you're right, but when compared to the other 6th gen consoles, the Dreamcast (or at least what games were made for it, since it didn't have a full lifespan) wound up right between generations. Not a perfect comparison I know, but the best I could do.
Anyway, Wild Fire is still one of my most anticipated third-party titles, along with Trauma Center and Rayman. Looks very fun, and perhaps it will finally do the 2D Sonics justice.
darryl @ Aug 1st 2006 7:04PM
El crappo graphicos. Wiitastic!
Rootbeer @ Aug 1st 2006 7:16PM
I'm just not seeing how this game's graphics look "dated" or "el crappo". There's no significant pixellation to speak of; not much patterniness from overuse of a small number of textures; a broad color pallette; no polygonal 3D chunkiness like you'd see on an N64 or PSX, or even DS, game.
I guess I'm not discerning enough to judge games based on graphic quality these days. I'll have to judge them based on fun instead.
Zeromaru @ Aug 1st 2006 7:18PM
Sonic is fast, you're not going to see the scenery. Sonic 360/PS3 is a different story, since it's gonna follow the adventure-based gameplay of Sonic Adventure 1/2 and Sonic Heroes, while Wildfire is returning to the traditional speed-focused gameplay.
Not to mention that Sonic is supposed to be animated. Realistic graphics just don't make sense.
El Hajjish @ Aug 1st 2006 7:24PM
Sign me up for the "looks fantastic" crowd. Oh, and it looks fun too. Remember fun?
I also agree with Ben18. Lots of next-generation games that try to be ultra-realiatic just look creepy, and not in a good way. No uncanny valley in this game.
vidGuy @ Aug 1st 2006 7:30PM
The game looks great! And this Sonic is going back to the roots, mainly SPEED. Sonic is on rails and you tilt the controller to move him. You only have a few buttons, but the game sounds incredibly fun.
JoseMiguel @ Aug 1st 2006 7:38PM
Neither it or Excite truck look that hot to me. I mean, come on, controlling such game by tilting the controller? How much time will it be until the tilting becomes old?
If that's all they've got to offer I think I'll pass to less innovative things.
loomis @ Aug 1st 2006 7:46PM
do you see the fantastic innovation on the controls?!?! instead on pushing the analog stick left i can tilt this little tv remote left! woohoo!
El Hajjish @ Aug 1st 2006 7:46PM
Jose, using your arguements, tilting an analogue stick would get old just as quickly. These games are still going to have some degree of depth.
However, that's not the point. The point is to bring non-gaming people into gaming. Often, these people find existing controllers too complex. This control scheme is more intuitive (just watch a newbie gamer tilt and move a regular controller in vain), so as to make games easier for non-gamers to play.
Evan @ Aug 1st 2006 7:47PM
I don't hear people comparing Mario Kart's DS graphics to the PSP's Ridge Racer. So, why compare the graphics of a cartoony Sonic game to another system whose games are all serious looking.
Rootbeer @ Aug 1st 2006 7:51PM
Come on, moving a paddle by turning a knob? How long until THAT gimmick gets old.
This "Pong" thing will never catch on. I guarantee it. All video games were meant to be controlled by four buttons, like "Computer Space" had.
meddow @ Aug 1st 2006 7:55PM
love my 360, but man, look how good the Wii is, i really cant wait! just need more V/C infor, bring on the Wii love!
William @ Aug 1st 2006 7:57PM
I think that that game will be amazing. I've been playing videogames for 14 years and let me tell you I'm thrilled to be able to play a game where my wrists and hands move differently that a button masher game. It will be so much fun I can tell and the graphics look great, sure they don't look like Gears of War realistic graphics, but they look great in their own way. Nintendo isn't going to try and match 360 or ps3 graphics, they'll stick to different graphic types like cel-shaded and what the Sonic WildFire game has.
Nintendo is King once again.
obo @ Aug 1st 2006 8:25PM
Hey Robert, what is so bad about the graphics? I can't tell, but then again I still think PS1 Spyro looks good, so I don't know what to look for.
Robert Summa @ Aug 1st 2006 8:32PM
I'm not saying the graphics are bad, just not up to par with what we would expect in next-gen consoles.
As others have mentioned, during actual gameplay, you won't even notice and the game will likely look great and smooth.
Also, I did mention that they were just screenshots, which as we all know don't portray how good a game looks sometimes.
Either way, if you look at the backgrounds, they look very GameCube quality.
emceay @ Aug 1st 2006 9:08PM
People expect too much of graphics, that's why we're in the development situation at hand. This will be like a GC on full-blast-and-a-half with short load times. I don't see why everyone's complaining, they're not charging more than $300 for the console, so why harp on graphics? Oblivion, Farcry, and Prey look fantastic, but I still don't want a 360 (yet.).
If only ultra-realism and gritty true-to-life action get you off, you need to take some time to stop and smell the roses, or eat a mushroom or two.
Fish @ Aug 1st 2006 9:46PM
Thats all i need for graphics... i honestly dont see much of a difference between that top screenshot and any sonic screen for the PS3 or 360... of course i'm not really looking for problems in it either. :
mynameisohyeah @ Aug 1st 2006 9:46PM
@El Hajjish
I thought the reason non-gamers don't play games was because they don't like videogames. Control scheme is a new one to me.
Also, you may have noticed (at least in FPSs) that when we move our non-motion sensing controllers, it is because we get into the game so much that we make eratic movements to where we'd like to point our gun. If I made those same movements using the wiimote, the screen would totally flip out and would be unrealistic. I think I'd rather vent my emotions without messin up my game.
J.Goodwin @ Aug 1st 2006 9:47PM
I don't think it looks bad, it just looks like something entirely within the capabilities of my Dreamcast. A console that I bought more than seven years ago (at the Japanese launch). A console that can now be had brand new for 100 bucks, and already has two very similar looking Sonic games on it.
david @ Aug 1st 2006 10:34PM
the graphics look ok
but im not sure i learned anything about the wiimote from the pictures
El Hajjish @ Aug 1st 2006 10:46PM
Mynameisohyeah:
Wii is a system designed, iin part, to get non-gamers to try games.
A large part of the Wii controller's design, according to Nintendo, is to make it less intimidating to non-gamers. Nintendo has mentioned repeatedly that they want this device to be something that anyone will simply be able to pick up and play with, without worrying about 24 different buttons.
A major focus of the Wii is to try to make it more appealing to people who aren't playing games right now. You may be right, people that don't play video games may never want to, but Nintendo's strategy is to try to grab that market all the same. To do this, they want to create games with very simple controls. That is what the simple controls of Wii Sports, Wario Ware, and yes, Sonic Wild Fire is all about, even though it is developed by Sega.
If you go to Nintendo's website, you'lll see that alot of the description of the console speaks to breaking down the barriers between gamers and everyone else (their words not mine) and making games that are easy to play for people that haven't spent the last 15 years playing games like us.
JoseMiguel @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:23AM
"El Hajjish" As much as I want to believe it has a point, I really want to have fun, and you just said it. It'd be the same or very like moving analog sticks left and right, so if it becomes old fast then it's good for nothing.
Of course, it's only a launch game and I haven't seen all, but what I mean to say is just that they need more creative uses for the Wiimote than just tilting the controller around. That's not a solution that will bring balance between gamers and not gamers, it may very well alienate the first group.
phipscube @ Aug 2nd 2006 2:37AM
Is it just me or do you have to hold the Wiimote with TWO hands and tilt it?
Looks just like how the PS3 controller will be used.
Thats amusing.
Kevin B @ Aug 2nd 2006 4:32AM
Wow. I don't think everyone realy gets it just yet.
1. If anyone really wants graphics from a console, go spend 200 or FOUR HUNDRED extra dollars for games one might consider in any opinon "better." These self-proclaimed "next-gen" systems are being purchased by individuals for their own beliefs and expectations; possibly to make use for their prematurely acquired HD display. I will purchase mine when they go sub-$500; and that will be soon.) What I expect to do when I play a game, no matter how I play it (gee i wonder why guitar hero and DDR got so popular), is first and foremost, have fun. Sony fans out there.....look at FFVII. From what I hear, one of the most heralded games ever, and that game didn't look all that great; it was about the gameplay. There are gobs of other examples. So, if you try and downplay a system because of it's graphics, you might as well take back your digital watch because it doesen't have bump-mapping. If you think Nintendo should have tried harder, pumping more research, more time, more hardware, you should have also expected, unlike other companies who are avid computer manufacturers, for them to break tradition, which is something Nintendo doesen't like to do for fear of alienating consumers (especially parents at Christmas on a budget) and charging more than their all too traditional price-point. Besides, with the familiar architecture, the games should pump out like a Play-Doh Barber Shop. Thank you Nintendo for not jumping on this bandwagon, and waiting until the HD era is upon us like a storm, not a drizzle.
2. Someone please count all the buttons on the friggin wiimote again. I count twelve functinal buttons (excluding Home and proposing the d-pad as four option buttons ala Rogue Leader, or Call of Duty) This and two objective 3-d axises, axes, axii (sp?). I'm pretty sure that's quite comparable to any other gamepad, and im not even mentioning the Virtual Console controllers. Plus there is the possiblity of taking pictures with the sensor, quieting any Eye-Toy fans. So if one wants to quibble about buttons, realize this; as gamers we are all jaded. As we all have grown, so have our interfaces. Look at TV remotes, Cable remotes, stereos, vacuum cleaners, refridgerators, washing machines, vending machines: all have evolved from one iteration to the next. Videogames wouldn't have become a mainstay of society without growing and changing. So naysayers, if you want to play on the same controller forever, utilizing the same gameplay mechanics, inhibiting more precise control maybe you should try PC gaming. You did see that Sony is trying to copy Nintendo again with some swivel stick, didn't you? Apparently THEY dont think it's such a bad idea. Some people picked on the different kids in school. Some of us were the different kids.
3. Puh-lease, how many buttons does it take to play Sonic anyway?! How many people figured out you could plug an Atari controller in the Genesis and play just fine? And what kind of company would Sega, or any company be, without affording some kind of customizable controls. Although that would remove the entire control concept from the game.
Concluding, know thine enemy.
Kevin B
WizarDru @ Aug 2nd 2006 7:59AM
Kevin B said: "These self-proclaimed "next-gen" systems are being purchased by individuals for their own beliefs and expectations; possibly to make use for their prematurely acquired HD display"
Prematurely acquired? By what measuring stick? Who decides when it's the right time? I realize YOU don't want to pay more than $500 for a TV, but many do and have, especially as the 'main tv' for a family. Nintendo has been supporting 480p out of the box since day one with the Gamecube, and MS and Sony both have had support for HDTV formats for a couple of years, now. The Wii offers wide-screen support and will almost certainly offer 480p again, even if they don't do 720p or higher.
As for Sonic's graphics...they look just fine. And as has been pointed out...Sonic is about SPEED. Higher framerates over large distances mean less detailed graphics. I think you're seeing a big shift in the industry focus, frankly. Games like Sonic and Rayman are being developed on the Wii FIRST, and then being ported over.
There's more than one way to render a game. Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Future aren't about hyper-detailed environments, for example, they're about hyper-stylized environments. Sonic doesn't have to look like Far Cry...it has to look like Sonic. And more importantly, it has to MOVE like Sonic. The Wii controller functionality is icing on a hopefully already tasty cake.
jordan @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:51AM
hey, has anyone actually spent time to watch the videos between the 360, ps3, and wii versions, the speed difference is tremendous! all the reviews, including IGN, GAMESPOT, talk of how it feels like the good ol' days before sonic adventure, and how smooth the controls and how FAST the game was compared to the other versions, that sounds good to me, who wants a SLOW sonic game??
Tush @ Aug 2nd 2006 10:56AM
My theory is this:
Developers need some limitations. Limitation is what spurs real creativity.
Take Star Wars (new ones) vs Lord of the Rings. Lucas had all the money in the world at his disposal to make Star Wars Eps 1-3. And guess what, they blew. LOTR was FAR lower budgeted, therefore they had to be EXTRA creative to make the movie better.
This happens in all sorts of other areas too. Ever wonder why musicians tend to start sucking with they reach the top? No limits = less creativity (in general)
So with the graphical limitations of the Wii, I really believe we're going to see far more creativity.
Brian @ Aug 2nd 2006 11:21AM
#1. Who cares about graphics? *Goes back to playing Dragon Quest IV*
#2. Those graphics aren't bad at all. They're certainly not Unreal 2007 quality, but they're good. Much better than GCN graphics. Especially since Sonic is not supposed to and never has had realistic graphics. It'd be like Mario with realistic graphics. It'd be awful, as awful as that photoshopped picture of shaved Mario.
#3. Go back to #1.
Saiclone @ Aug 2nd 2006 11:44AM
For all those wii doubters out there.
It may have been mentioned somewhere but a point about the wii, is that it's the first console it which it may be of value to actually buy more than one version of multisystem games.Sonic for example.......
niels @ Aug 2nd 2006 12:14PM
so the wiimote is a standard gamepad (with 64 buttons), but with added motion sensing technology. so depending on how it is used, it could be even more complex, less intuitive, and more frustrating for users.
right now it is not obvious that motion sensing technology is a more "intuitive" way of controlling videogames. both button-mashing and motion sensing are abstractions from the actual movements that the character is making on screen.
perhaps from the viewpoint of the videogame player, it is not intuitiveness that counts, but speed. that is, if i need to accomplish my character to hit with a sword, it is perhaps much easier to press X than to make a full arm movement.
All I am saying is that beforehand it is not obvious that motion sensing technology is more "intuitive". It will really depend on the creativity of the game developers to make games that utilise motion sensing technology in an intuitive way.
BPM? @ Aug 2nd 2006 2:28PM
Personally, I find Wild Fire's graphics to be pretty impressive. Sound is a lot more rounded than his (slightly) blockier self in the GCN/PS2/Xbox games. And the levels look nicely detailed, too.
And, don't forget: Wii isn't Next Gen, it's New Gen. :P
GoldenAngel @ Sep 22nd 2007 2:12PM
Intersting graphic....but the game looks more than liniar...same old speed game and shit...I espect more than ey Sonic DX for this game not just speed kill and destroy